Recipe: Vegan Cheesy Broccoli Soup in Sourdough Bread Bowls

Vegan cheesy?!?!? Yes here it is......

SERVES 8
This soup has a smooth cheesy base with hearty chunks of tender broccoli. I always turn to this recipe when I’m in need of a cosy comfort-food fix. This dish is a perfect cure for rainy-day blues. Served in a crusty sourdough bread bowl? Yes, please!

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing
1 onion, chopped
Sea salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups soy, almond, or rice milk
1 bunch broccoli, florets cut, stems trimmed, peeled, and chopped
¾ cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
8 regular sourdough loaves or 16 small sourdough breads

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat, and sauté onions until soft. Season generously with salt, add garlic, and let cook a few more minutes.

Add broth, nondairy milk, and broccoli. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer for 20 minutes until broccoli is tender.

Spoon out a small amount of broccoli florets and reserve. In batches, transfer the remaining contents of the pot to a blender and puree. Return pureed soup to the pot and add the reserved broccoli florets. Over low heat, stir in nutritional yeast until incorporated. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Slice the tops off each sourdough bread; and using a spoon and/or knife, hollow out the inside. Cut or tear the removed bread into bite-sized chunks and set aside. Brush oil on the inside of each bowl to seal the bread so that the soup will not leak out. Place bread bowls on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned on the inside. Remove from oven and place each bread bowl into a soup bowl. Ladle the soup into the bread bowl and serve with the bread chunks.